A Short Beery Visit to Bruges

Just in case Christmas did not supply enough booze and chocolate, I spent a few days in Bruges in that weird bit between Christmas and new Year.

The trip seemed a good excuse turn into a booze cruise, something I’ve never experienced before. I can certainly recommend the Calais Wine Superstore, where it is possible to taste some wine on those awesome self-service machines before buying.

This helps – especially when seeing which 99p wine is actually drinkable.

Wine Mountains. Look out for deals.

The next stop was the lovely Bruges, with it’s canals, cobbled streets and pretty architecture.

“It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it? How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s fucking thing? How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful fucking fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody’s fucking thing, eh?” – Harry, In Bruges.

Of course, no trip to Bruges would be complete without fries, waffles and chocolate. I even visited a Michelin star restaurant.

But really, I had a lot more fun with the beer. After a trip a few years ago to Brussels, I was keen to return to Belgium, which produces the type of beer which first really opened my eyes to how different and exciting beer could be.

There’s a few breweries in Bruges, and it’s certainly worth, and possible, to visit both in one day.

Brouwerij Bourgogne des Flandres

There is a flemish tradition of blending both old and new beer and this brewery’s namesake beer shows this off wonderfully.

The brewery, located in the centre of town, brews Bourgogne des Flandres Pure on site in their loft. After which, it is blended with lambic made and aged for 8 months by Timmermans.

Showing the bottle, but I had this on draft, fresh from the brewery tanks.

The resulting beer is red-brown, with excellent balance and drinkability.

The brewery also does a range of other beers on tap – I opted for the Gordon Xmas, with which I received a pair of gloves!

The gloves could have come in useful if I was seated outside.

If I return to Bruges. I’ll certainly go on the tour, and try some of their rotating specials they have on tap.

De Halve Maan Brewery Tour

Does this moon have a beard?

I was booked on the XL tour at De Halve Maan, who run many tours at the weekend when they do not brew.

Independent, and run by the Maes family since 1856, brewery is both a working brewery and museum. In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that a brewery has been on the same site since 1564!

In the past, they even used to malt their own barley on-site, but perhaps more famously they’ve recently built a pipeline to transport freshly brewed beer to the bottling plant on the city’s outskirts.

During the tour, you’ll see a lot of old equipment and explanations of traditional and modern brewing methods and technology. There’s also an excellent view of the city from the top of the tower.

After negotiating the compact, maze-like brewery and steep stairways during the tour, I’d certainly worked up a thirst.

Luckily, the enthusiastic and knowledgable tour guide led us into a tasting room, where we found a table with a some folks from Germany to taste the brews.

Brugse Zot (Unfiltered)

We started with an unfiltered Brugse Zot, which is held in tanks on the premises. You won’t get fresher beer.

Surprisingly this gives it a very refreshing, clean, crisp taste. It felt like almost the opposite of what happens to pilsner when served this way. It felt dangerously sessionable and can see it being perfect for a summers day in Bruges.

Brugse Zot Dubbel

Unlike the previous beer, the dubbel was a new beer for me. It was very well balanced with stone fruit flavours and a good depth of body with a sweet finish.

One I’ll seek down again. It was met with approval from most of our table, and especially from the wife, somewhat surprisingly.

Straffe Hendrik Brugs Tripel Bier

On the tour you have a choice between the Quad and the Tripel.

I have it under authority that Straffe = Strong and Hendrik was after the family name of Hendrick (Henri).

I am still not sure about Tripel’s, as I often find them tasting too much of booze. Still, this seemed a good version with caramel and toffee flavours, but still fairly crisp.

Straffe Hendrik Brugs Quadrupel Bier 11

This was my favourite of the tasting, with it’s complex, heavy character.

It went very well with some dark Belgian chocolate I took with me.

I ended up choosing a special barrel aged bottle of Straffe Hendrik Heritage 2016 in the shop, which I was told can keep for 10-20 years. This beer has spent 1 year in oak, which were rum barrels before being used for beer.

I’ll open it one day…

The resulting style is a Biere de Garde, and it may develop characteristics associated with Port or Madeira wine.

Of course, no trip to Belgium would be complete without getting a few more bottles to take away – I picked up a few more from a fine shop nearby!